"We'll handle the prisoners. I think you have people waiting to see you," Bill said to Nathan once they had cuffed the men and locked them in the cells.

Nathan thanked his friend before walking outside to where Elizabeth and the kids had been waiting for him. Allie jumped up and ran into his arms, with Elizabeth and Jack close behind.

"I was worried about you," the girl confessed.

"I'm completely fine. I wasn't even in much danger."

"We were still worried," Elizabeth said, pulling away from their embrace to press a quick kiss to his lips.

Rosemary and Lee chose that moment to come over to them. "Abigail, Cody, and Clara are staying in the infirmary with Samantha. Henry was going to bring them food from the cafe. I thought maybe the four of you would like to come over to our house for dinner before going back to sit with them."

"That sounds great, thank you, Rosemary," Elizabeth said, standing next to Nathan and the children.

"Nat'an, up," Jack reached for the mountie.

Nathan fulfilled the little boy's request, picking him up and squeezing him tightly. "Did you have fun at the cafe?"

"Yes," he said, grinning.

Everyone continued to make conversation on the walk to Lee and Rosemary's row house. Standing on the steps, Rosemary reached to take Jack from Nathan. "Jack, Allie, can you two come help me set the table?"

"Sure, Aunt Rosemary," Allie said, walking inside the house with them. That left Nathan and Elizabeth sitting out on the steps by themselves.

Elizabeth rested her head on Nathan's shoulders. "I was so worried today."

"Me too, honey. But we're all okay, and hopefully, Abigail's mother will be better soon. You were so brave today. Staying with Samantha until Rosemary and Allie could get help. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Nathan. I just wanted to keep Allie safe. I would never have forgiven myself if she had gotten caught up in that."

It had been important to Nathan that whoever he ended up with loved Allie as well. Elizabeth couldn't love his daughter more. Silently, he brought her face to his to kiss her. It was a quick kiss but showed their deep feelings for each other.

Inside the house, Rosemary quickly prepared a few sandwiches for everyone. While Lee, Allie, and Jack were busy setting the table, she abandoned the sandwich-making to take a quick peek out the window. She scurried away when her friends stood from their spot on the stairs, going back to the kitchen. Lee, who had been pretending not to watch his wife, chuckled to himself. For someone with a background in acting, she wasn't fooling anybody.

With Nathan and Elizabeth inside, the sandwiches ready, and the table set, they all sat down to a spontaneous dinner.

"This sandwich is delicious, Rosemary. Thank you for offering to cook tonight," Elizabeth thanked her friend.

"Of course, we've all had a very stressful day."

Surprisingly, Nathan was the one to initiate a conversation after everyone ate in silence for a few minutes. "How was your shopping trip before the ride home?"

"It was great, Dad. We went dress shopping and then went to a fancy restaurant."

Rosemary and Elizabeth smiled at Allie's enthusiasm. "Henry said he would bring all of our bags over later. They're still in his car."

"That was nice of him. How was your day with Jack, Nathan?" Elizabeth asked curiously. She had no doubts that Nathan took good care of her son while she was gone.

"Who did we see this morning, Jack?" Nathan asked the boy in his lap. He was still a little too young to sit by himself, and since Rosemary and Lee didn't have a highchair at their house, he was happy to sit with Nathan.

Jack bounced up and down excitedly, "New'tan!"

Everyone laughed at his exuberance. Jack clearly had a good day regardless of the unplanned afternoon events.

"And Saw'gent," the boy added.

Seeing everyone's puzzled expressions, Nathan explained, "Yes, we saw Seargent too."

They continued to talk about the good parts of their days, avoiding the bad parts, until they were all finished with dinner.

Lee and Elizabeth cleared the dishes while Rosemary went to get the dessert.

"We baked cookies while you were gone earlier, Nathan," she said, presenting the plate of chocolate chip cookies.

Looking at the cookies, Nathan responded, "They look delicious."

"Cookie!" Jack happily cried, reaching out to take one. The six of them enjoyed the cookies with plenty left over to bring to the infirmary.

"How's Samantha doing?" Elizabeth asked Carson before they went back to see her.

"She's still unconscious. I think she'll be fine once she wakes up. I set her arm, and we've been icing her head."

Thanking Carson, they walked behind the curtain to find Abigail holding her mother's hand from the chair next to the bed with Cody sitting next to her. Henry, Clara, and Jesse were standing a respectful distance away. They looked up when their friends entered the room.

"We brought some cookies," Elizabeth held up the basket.

"Thank you," Clara said, taking the dessert from Elizabeth's outstretched hand.

Abigal hadn't drawn her eyes away from her mother but managed a thank you. Before anyone could say anything else, Abigail felt her mother's hand squeeze hers.

"Mom?"

"Abby," she managed to reply.

The whole room silently watched this exchange. Abigail leaned over to embrace her mother, careful of the injured arm. "I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered.

By this time, Carson had entered the room and was allowing the family a few moments together before examining his patient.

"Grandma, you're finally awake."

Samantha smiled at Cody. "Well, this was a good introduction to Hope Valley," she said lightly.

Everyone chuckled. "Mom, I want you to meet Clara, she was Peter's wife, and now she's married to Jesse Flynn," she gestured to them. "My dear friends Henry Gowen and Rosemary and Lee Coulter. Elizabeth Thornton, her son Jack Junior, Nathan Grant, and his daughter Allie."

"It's wonderful to meet all of you. I've heard so much about Hope Valley over the years."

Carson used the break in the conversation to speak, "I'm sorry to put a stop to these introductions but I want to make sure Samantha is okay."

"We'll go step outside," Abigail spoke for everyone, giving her mother's hand one last squeeze before standing up. "Come and get us when you're finished."

After they all filed out of the infirmary, Abigail turned toward Nathan, "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure, Abigail," he responded, the two of them quietly distancing themselves from the group.

"I'm worried, Nathan," Abigail whispered once they were out of earshot. "Those men were not clever or strategic, but it seemed well planned out. From my understanding, the other robberies were well thought out too."

Nathan glanced around to check that everyone else was occupied before responding, "I felt the same way. We still need to be cautious, maybe have a few people out keeping guard. Let's keep this between the two of us for now. I'll fill Bill in later, and you can alert Henry."

"I will. Please keep me updated."

Nathan nodded, "Of course, not only were you directly involved in the incident, but you are the mayor. You need to know what's happening."

"Thank you for your help today."

Nathan chuckled, "I think you had things handled all on your own."

"Maybe, but my plan wouldn't have worked if you and Bill hadn't come in when you did. So thank you."

"I'm glad you're safe. And it was a clever idea to stash a gun in there. How did you learn to be such an accurate shooter?" he complimented her.

"My late husband, Noah, taught me. When we came here, the town was far less civilized than it is now. The men were in the coal mines all day, and he wanted me to be able to protect myself."

"Well protect yourself you did, the Mounties might have to hire you to teach a shooting class," he said jokingly.

"Am I interrupting?" Elizabeth asked, approaching them with Jack on her hip. She had seen them talking a little further away from the rest of the group and had wanted to come to check on them.

"Not at all. I was just thanking Nathan for his help earlier," Abigail didn't want to lie to her best friend, so she chose a half-truth instead.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. I don't want to think about what might have happened if things had gone differently," Elizabeth responded, hugging Abigail as best she could while holding Jack.

"You can all come back in now. It's cold out here," Carson called from the doorway.

Nathan took Jack from Elizabeth, to give her arms a break from carrying him. As soon as everyone reentered the infirmary, they instantly warmed up.

"Nathan, Samantha can't remember much about what happened on the way here, so I'll ask that you refrain from your questions until tomorrow," Carson informed the mountie.

"Of course. There's no need to question her until she's recovered more."

"How are you feeling, Mom?" Abigail had returned to her spot next to the hospital bed.

Samantha smiled at her daughter reassuringly, "I'm feeling better. My arm feels strange and my head hurts, but I feel fine. Now, is anyone going to tell me what happened?"

Abigail and everyone else turned to look at Carson.

He sighed, not enjoying telling patients things they didn't like. "If we want her to heal as best as possible and have her regain her own memories, we need to keep our stories to a minimum."

"I understand, but can someone give me a basic explanation?"

With a nod from Carson, Abigail began the short version of the events of the day. "To sum it up, they had you unconscious and only agreed to let you go if I went with them. They took me and left Elizabeth, Rosemary, Allie, and you on the side of the road. Meanwhile, Nathan was worried that we weren't home yet and went to find us. The men brought me to the bank expecting me to unlock the safe and hand them all the money. I pulled a hidden gun on them and they finally surrendered. At that point, Nathan and Bill came in and arrested them."

Abigail had been filled in on the parts of the story she had missed, but the rest of the group hadn't heard about the ending.

"You held the criminals at gunpoint?" Samantha asked in shock.

Abigail nodded, "At first they didn't believe I knew how to shoot. When I shot perfectly at the table in front of them, they immediately put their hands up."

The whole room was impressed. Only Cody and Elizabeth had known about her ability to use a gun before today. Abigail had mentioned it early on in her Coal Valley days. Elizabeth hadn't known the extent of Abigail's skill until she heard some of her stories about shooting with her late husband. She wasn't surprised though. Abigail was a strong and intelligent woman; of course she would know how to defend herself.

"Nathan, you better make sure she gets a medal for catching those terrible criminals," Samantha said jokingly.

"She would definitely deserve it. I don't know what would have happened without your plan and your quick action, Abigail."

"Thank you. It was a joint effort."

"Well we're all very impressed," Elizabeth chimed in, everyone affirmed the statement with nods of agreement.

"I think someone's getting sleepy," Nathan said, looking at the yawning boy he was holding in his arms.

Elizabeth pressed a kiss to his soft blonde hair,

"Let's get you home to bed, my sweet boy."

Abigail turned to her son next. "Cody, I'm going to stay here tonight. Do you want Clara and Jesse to bring you home now?"

Shaking his head, Cody said, "I want to stay here for a little while longer."

"I should probably get home. I'll see you tomorrow, Abigail?" Henry confirmed, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you for being here today. Goodnight, Henry."

The rest of the groups exchanged similar goodbyes, Clara and Jesse deciding to stay with Cody, Abigail, and her mother for a few more minutes. While everyone was busy chatting, Nathan, still holding a very sleepy boy, and Elizabeth snuck outside for a moment.

Alone outside, Nathan began to speak softly, "Elizabeth, Bill, some other men, and I are going to take shifts watching the prisoners tonight."

She immediately knew what he was asking of her. "The guest bedroom is available anytime. You know I love spending time with Allie. And I wanted to talk to her after everything today anyway.

Nathan pressed a kiss to her temple. He loved that she understood him so well. "Thank you. I don't know when we'll be able to transfer them, so I might have to do this for a few days."

"I'm sure you'll be exhausted tomorrow morning. I can keep her until you've had a chance to sleep."

He wasn't used to having someone around to help him. For many years he had to juggle raising a young girl with his career as a Mountie. He was grateful to have someone he could rely on when he needed help. Nathan had been staring lovingly into her eyes, now their faces were only inches apart. Closing the gap, they shared a kiss that showed all of their built-up emotions from the day. With the now sleeping toddler right next to them, their kiss was short, but it left no doubt of their love for each other.

Separating slightly, she said, "We'll walk home with Rosemary and Lee so you don't have to walk all the way there and back."

"Then this is goodnight," he whispered, bringing his lips to hers one more time.

"I love you," she told him breathlessly.

Pressing a final kiss on her cheek, he responded, "I love you so much."

Freezing from the cold, they snuck back into the infirmary before their absence was noticed for too long.

"Allie, I have to help watch the prisoners so you get to stay with Elizabeth and Jack tonight," Nathan informed her.

The girl excitedly agreed, happy to spend the night at her teacher's house.

"You know where the spare key to our house is, Allie. Make sure you lock the door after you get what you need, and please bring the key back to Elizabeth's with you."

Once the final goodbyes were said, the Coulters, Thorntons, and Allie began the cold walk back to the rowhouses. Rosemary and Lee waited in the living room with Jack while Elizabeth and Allie went into the house to pack a bag for her. Collecting all the necessary items, they locked the house and followed Nathan's instructions of keeping the key instead of putting it back in its hiding space.

Rosemary and Lee made sure Elizabeth and the children got home safely before they left. Opening the door to her rowhouse, Elizabeth promptly carried her sleeping son upstairs to get him ready for bed.

Allie hadn't spent much time in her teacher's house until recently. Alone downstairs, she wandered around, exploring more carefully. When she approached Elizabeth's desk, Allie's eyes were drawn to a photo of a man in red serge. Picking the frame up to look at it more closely, she realized the man was Jack Senior. Before she had a chance to look at the other photos, Elizabeth spoke. The girl had been so distracted by the photograph that she hadn't noticed the person coming down the stairs.

"My late husband," Elizabeth confirmed, saying it softly to avoid startling Allie.

Surprised by Elizabeth's presence, she quickly put the picture frame back on the desk and turned to apologize.

"It's okay, Allie. They're displayed there, so you're welcome to look at them," she walked over to her desk and took a picture out of a drawer. "This was our wedding photo," she explained.

"It looks like it was a beautiful wedding."

"It was," Elizabeth said, lost in thought. "Anyway, if you ever have questions about him, I want you to feel comfortable coming to me. I'd be happy to talk to you."

Allie nodded, and Elizabeth continued, "Speaking of that, I was thinking about making some tea, and we can sit and talk about today. If you aren't too tired, that is.

"I'd love to."

"Thanks for covering for me earlier, Bill," Nathan said to the judge. The two of them were quietly talking in the RNWMP office while the three men sat locked up in the jail cells behind them.

"Anytime. They have been very smug and confident since we brought them back here. I have an uneasy feeling about this."

"Abigail said that to me too. The robberies were planned well but executed poorly. I think the leader is still out there. They probably think he is going to come and save them." After saying that, everything clicked.

"We need to get even more men to guard the town. Especially the bank, the jail, Abigail, Rosemary, and Elizabeth," Bill sprang into action. Not wanting to draw attention to themselves Nathan pretended to casually go check on something. As soon as the door closed behind him, he went on a mission to find men to help. Luckily, it was only eight o'clock, so most people were awake and willing to help. He had to do it carefully, in case anyone was watching him. Only after assigning the willing men to guard different places, informing them to stay hidden, and what to do if they saw something suspicious, did he go back to talk to Bill.

"I gathered about 20 armed men to take shifts all night. I don't want to risk anything happening. We should place a call to headquarters for them to send more mounties and a transfer wagon. The sooner we get them out of here, the safer we'll be."

Bill nodded, "That sounds like a good plan. Then all we can do is wait and hope we're wrong."

Unbeknownst to the danger around them, Elizabeth and Allie sat on the settee drinking tea.

"Today was scary," Elizabeth began. "But you were so courageous."

Allie smiled at the compliment. "Dad had taught me what to do in situations like that. As soon as it's safe and you know where you are, find help. Especially if someone needs medical attention."

"That's very smart. How are you feeling after today?"

"I'm okay. I was so worried about Dad. And Uncle Bill and Aunt Abigail. What if they had hurt them?"

Elizabeth sighed in agreement, "I was worried too. But I've learned that worry doesn't help anything. As hard as it is, I try to be productive instead of worrying, which we did today by making the cookies. Now we get to be thankful that everyone's safe and Abigail's mother is on the road to recovery."

"That's a good way to think about it. I had a great day shopping today, even though it didn't end well. Thank you for bringing me."

"Of course, Allie," Elizabeth hugged her with the hand that wasn't holding her cup. "I loved spending the day with you."

In one of the hunting cabins on the outskirts of Hope Valley, Dylan Parks watched out the window. In the years since his wife passed away, he had fallen into debt from gambling. Unable to pay it off with the small wages from his job, he had turned to joining gangs. Now he was a well-respected leader of his own gang. It provided enough money to pay the original debt, which only made him gamble more. He had been on a losing streak as of late. That's why he had formed this plan. He had located Constable Nathan Grant's posting when he discovered the small town was an easy target; he decided to damage his brother in laws career. He was going to make him look responsible for letting them get away with the robbery. He had hit a few of the towns around this one first and had gotten large sums of money. He would have already had a stack of cash in his hands if his guys hadn't screwed up. He had watched them be brought to the jail from his spot on the edge of town. It had been risky to bring them in on the plan. They were new and not very smart, but he would get to keep more of the money. Desperate for the money, he had agreed. Now he was beginning to regret that. Dylan did not give up easily, and luckily for him, he had the perfect backup plan.